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Pyrex is more than a hot commodity; it’s a spark that lit a couple’s fire.

“Life can be crazy, but taking the time to collect and learn together has been the little pick-me-up our marriage needed!” a commenter named Hannah recently wrote on the website Shiny Happy Pyrex People.

“We enjoy the history behind the pieces and love the thrill of the hunt.”

Happily-ever-after looks promising for Hannah and hubby, considering that the vintage heat-resistant cookware comes in “thousands” of variations in design, colour, shape and size, according to expert Timothy Loughmiller. “You could do nothing but just collect fridge dishes and never get them all,” he says.

Demand for Pyrex is “over the moon,” adds Loughmiller, crediting the “grandma influence.” That set of four yellow, red, green and blue mixing bowls? “Grandma always had that one,” he says. “It brings back happy memories.” (A good set goes for about $300.)

Vintage pieces can pop up in yard sales, thrift shops, on eBay, Etsy and social media sites, with the rarest selling for thousands. A 1959 “Lucky in Love” round casserole dish — donated to a Goodwill store in New York state — was auctioned off for about $6,000 in 2017.

A set of four square and rectangular fridge dishes with lids typically goes for $150, says Loughmiller, owner of GTA-based Timothy Loughmiller Estate Sales.

During 30 years in the business, he’s rarely seen a sale that didn’t include at least a Pyrex measuring cup and clear baking dishes. While the kitchenware dates back more than a century, it’s the stuff from the 1940s through ’70s that collectors are really fired up about. That’s when Corning Glass Works added colour, decorative patterns and new styles.

Now called Corning Inc., the New York-based company has produced glass for everything from eyeglasses to the Hubble Telescope and surfaces for growing stem cells.

The first baking dish was created in Corning, N.Y. in 1915 after Bessie Littleton, married to Corning physicist Jesse Littleton, baked a cake in a sawed-off battery jar made of borosilicate glass.

Early products of clear pie plates, shirred egg dishes and oval baking dishes preceded the iconic liquid measuring cup in 1925.

Consumers warmed to the brand in the ’30s when a new automated manufacturing process made it more affordable and promotions focused on its beauty, elegance and versatility.

In the 1940s, Anchor Hocking Glass Corp. introduced competitor Fire-King, oven-proof glassware that was produced for about 35 years. While Fire-King has its fans, it doesn’t have the same “panache” as Pyrex, according to Loughmiller.

Mid-century cookware is a common sight in small- and big-screen homes, including 1997 crime drama film “Donnie Brasco,” where a mixing bowl sprinkled with daisies shared space with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. “Seinfeld” friends gobbled popcorn out of Pyrex bowls while stirring scenes with mixing bowls were common on “I Love Lucy.”

Most vintage Pyrex bowls and bakeware with a coloured exterior are thought to have paint that contains lead. Using it may pose a safety concern if the outside is chipped, cracked or otherwise damaged.

Avid collector Jennifer Ashley got hooked after binge-watching “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” triggering dreams of finding a pink casserole dish. Ashley, a U.S. romance author, has just written a resource book with the same name as her website, “Shiny Happy Pyrex People.”

The shiny part is key, says Loughmiller.

“Once you lose the gloss it’s done, it’s a dog dish,” he advises, warning that the dishwasher is a no-go zone for Pyrex.

On MaxSold, a U.S. and Canadian virtual auction service that operates in the GTA, Pyrex sets attract multiple bids and routinely sell for more than $150, according to spokesperson Kate Morris.

“Surprise, surprise! Thirty-four bids later, (the sellers) made good money off a set of old but classic dishes,” she says of a six-piece lot that went for $190 recently.

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